Albertson looking good for home Grand Prix

The US Grand Prix will represent the sixth round of fifteen in the 2010 FIM Motocross World Championship but it will also be the first visit to the USA for the series this century and break a drought of twenty years since the talismanic venue of Glen Helen last saw GP machinery in anger.

The upcoming meeting this weekend will also mark a small unforgettable memory in the career of Martin Honda rider Jimmy Albertson. The Missourian is incredibly able to enter the meeting in spite of dislocating his left shoulder at the Catalan round almost two weeks ago.

 The factory CRF450R MX1 rider flew home directly after the bad luck suffered at Bellpuig and initial scans, complimented by relatively little pain and a tangible level of recovery means that the 21 year old will be able to line-up in front of his fans, friends and family at the mountainous circuit. ‘Albee’ is one of the few Americans plying his trade at the highest level and while his objectives for the weekend must be allied with his physical condition, his presence alone is a boost to the Italian Martin squad who had to quickly reverse their travelling plans.

“It has been a few crazy days as we cancelled the tickets to travel to the USA after Bellpuig when Jimmy hurt his shoulder and Alessandro (Battig, MX2 representative) injured his knee,” explained Team Manager Lorenzo Resta. “We had some good news in that Jimmy’s shoulder was not that bad and as soon as we knew there was a chance he could race at Glen Helen then we booked some more tickets and made arrangements for the bike. We don’t know what we can achieve but it is obviously an important event for Jimmy and a special GP on the calendar.”

“It is going incredibly well and I am happy with the progress I am making every day,” said the rider who will embark on just his sixth GP event in the first of two years committed to the MX1 world championship. “I have had the same injury on the other shoulder and it felt like it was months before it was stable but this is rapidly improving. If you had told me after the accident in Spain that I might be able to race at Glen Helen I would have laughed at you but it is a little bit of a dream come true at the moment.”

“I think coming home for a little bit will be a huge boost for my racing,” he continued. “I am very close to my family. It is great to be back in the USA but I am looking forward to finishing the season strongly. I am going to go out there and give it my all and try to score as many points as possible.”

Honda Motor Europe’s motocross wing will travel to the USA with their tails-up in the wake of the CRF450R’s first victory of the season at Bellpuig thanks to LS Honda’s Tanel Leok. The valiant Estonian was rampant at the Spanish track for his first triumph in ‘red’ and will naturally take that positive momentum to Glen Helen as he aims for a repeat. Leok did not use the free weekend in the international schedule for rest. Instead the 24 year old won the International meeting at Wuustwezel in Belgium with team-mate Davide Guarneri also finishing on the podium and impressive Russian of the British CAS Honda team, Evgeny Bobryshev, taking the runner-up position to split the Belgian crew’s representatives.

Thanks to Albertson’s swift recuperation and full support from LS Motors (Leok, Guarneri) and CAS (Bobryshev and South African Gareth Swanepoel), Honda will have a healthy presence in the American start gate with former World Champion Ben Townley also on the entry list with this TLD Lucas Oil CRF450R. The US Grand Prix was a late addition to the calendar after the cancellation of the British Grand Prix.

Leok is Honda’s highest placed rider in the world championship with 8th place and just 10 points from the top five. Bobryshev is 9th in his debut MX1 season with former MX2 GP winner and also MX1 rookie for 2010 Guarneri in 10th. Gareth Swanepoel is 14th and Albertson 16th after his DNS in Spain.

There will be a hectic rush on Sunday evening as team personnel will need to head back to Europe as soon as possible to prepare for the Grand Prix of France at St Jean d’Angely the following weekend. June signifies a busy period in the calendar with visits to France, Germany, Lativa and Sweden taking place in the weeks up until the first weekend of July.